PointsBet suffered a notable dip in Canadian profits last quarter as CEO Sam Swanell lamented “customer-friendly” results across both sports and slots.

Swanell said on an earnings call on Friday that the Australian company was negatively impacted by around $3.5 million due to “unprecedented” outcomes favouring its players in Canada across both NFL and slot games between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, 2024.

“This NFL season has been the most customer-friendly since the launch of regulated online sports betting with the highest rates of favorites winning in nearly 20 years,” said Swanell. It’s a complaint that has also been made in the U.S. by operators including DraftKings, FanDuel owner Flutter, PENN Entertainment and Caesars.

PointsBet Canada’s total net win last quarter was down 10.5% lower year-on-year to $8.5 million. In contrast, the company was up 1.7% in Australia to $54.6 million.

In Canada, sports betting net win fell 22.5% to $2.8 million for the quarter, despite player spending increasing by 30.2% to $88.0 million. PointsBet’s net win margin fell from 5.4% to 3.2%. Its Canadian iGaming revenue also dropped, albeit not as sharply as sports wagering. Player spending increased by 19.9% to $280.4 million but net win declined 1.6% to $5.7 million. Gross net win margin dropped from 2.5% to 2%.

PointsBet’s bigger picture looks rosier

Despite a poor quarter in Canada, the first half of the Australian 2025 fiscal year (July 1 to Dec. 31, 2024) posted better results. In Canada, net win climbed 14.6% during that period to $26.2 million, with sports betting’s net win up 14.3% to $10.4 million and iGaming’s up 14.7% to $15.8 million.

“These results have been delivered on the back of revenue growth and improvements in our gross profit efficiency,” said Swanell. “Our focus is not just on delivering revenue, but ensuring it is earned efficiently.”

PointsBet expanded its Ontario offering in recent months, launching with three new content providers and growing its overall games offering by approximately 40% to over 600 titles. It has integrated content from the likes of Pragmatic Play, Relax Gaming, PlayAGS and most recently Play’n GO in the last six months.

Looking ahead, the company has updated its revenue guidance for the full year from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, to a midpoint of $239 million and its EBITDA outlook to a midpoint of $11.3 million.

Swanell expects Alberta to open in time for next NFL season

As an aside, Swanell was asked in the Q&A session of Friday’s call whether he has any updates on the plan for Alberta to open its commercial online gaming and betting market.

Minister Dale Nally’s office pumped the brakes last fall on its plans to open a commercial regulated online gambling market, but the provincial government still intends to open its doors to commercial operators this year. Nally himself has mentioned fall 2025 as a revised target timeline.

Swanell said he believes things are on track for the market to open in time for the next NFL season.

“Theexpectation is still clearly NFL season this year, so you talk about September this year or around that timeline,” he told investors. “And that’s an important point because Alberta will just add a material amount to the size of that [Canadian] market, and it will come with very little additional cost. So in terms of helping [PointsBet] Canada power towards that EBITDA profitability, that additional province coming online around that time will be very helpful.”